Windsor Spitfires dominated every aspect of the game as they easily defeated the Brantford Bulldogs 5-1 on Saturday, October 5, 2024.
Ryerson Leenders started in goal for the Bulldogs, his first in Brantford since he was acquired by the team. Leenders gave his team a chance to win right from the start, turning aside 14 shots in the opening period.
With the Spitfires pouring on the pressure, they managed to open the scoring at 7:47, as Jack Nesbitt set Liam Greentree for a shot from the left circle. Leenders kicked the shot aside but it fell right to Ilya Protas who collected the puck to his backhand and slid it around Leenders to give the Spitfires a 1-0 lead.
After Ryerson Leenders denied a penalty shot opportunity for Cole Davis, the Spitfires winger found another way to strike. After Anthony Cristoforo sprang Greentree down the right wing to open Windsor’s first power-play, his initial shot was kicked away by the Bulldogs netminder but it came right to Davis who found himself away from defenders and fired into the open side at 9:44 to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission
The Bulldogs began to turn the tide in the middle frame, running through the youthful trio of Josh Avery, Nik Rossetto and Parker Holmes cycling low and creating chances to the front of Joey Costanzo’s net that the Windsor netminder turned aside. The Spitfires halted the Bulldogs momentum on the power-play at 15:30 as Ryan Abraham twisted the puck from the right-wing boards to the front of the net where Noah Morneau tipped it on the way through to A.J. Spellacy who’s turning backhand found its way under Leenders to stake the visitors to a 3-0 lead through 40 minutes.
Liam Greentree continued his hot hand, collecting his third assist of the game at 8:55 of the final frame, crashing down the right side and firing a shot that Leenders denied. As Dylan Tsherna, fighting to get back into the play, slid into his netminder, Ryan Abraham was able to bat the puck coming off the Bulldogs goaltender and into the net giving the Spitfires a 4-0 lead.
The third period became a parade to the penalty box, including the Bulldogs receiving two 5-on-3 opportunities, first of 15-seconds and the second of 47-seconds but Joey Costanzo was able to guide shots from Nick Lardis and Zakary Lavoie aside to keep Windsor staked to their lead. At 12:34 the Bulldogs finally broke the shutout bid after Dylan Tsherna won a puck battle on the end boards and carried the puck out to the left side of the night, feeding cross-ice for Noah Nelson who launched a one-timer past Joey Costanzo for his first of the season. It was as close as the Bulldogs would get as Jack Nesbitt hit an empty net at 18:53 to secure the Spitfires 5-1 victory.
